In the production of paper towels and the like, it is well known to produce nested, glued towels. Nested towels consist of two embossed plies wherein the raised portions of one ply "nest" into the recessed portions of the other ply, preferably in such a manner to create trapped air pockets which increase bulk and absorbant capacity. Examples of such products are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,366 to Donnelly. These products are produced by embossing two paper webs in rubber/steel nips, applying adhesive to the raised embossments of one of the webs, and pressing the two webs together such that the raised embossments of the webs containing the adhesive are pressed against the recessed embossments of the other web to achieve ply attachment.
However, one disadvantage of prior methods is that they produce two-sided products, i.e. the surface contour of one side of the product is different from the surface contour of the other side of the product. This is illustrated by FIG. 2 of the above-mentioned Donnelly patent and can be undesirable from a consumer acceptance standpoint.
Another disadvantage of some prior methods is that oftentimes the two plies are engaged in a steel/steel nip using very close clearances in order to achieve ply attachment to achieve, for example, a product of the type illustrated in FIG. 3 of the abovesaid Donnelly patent. In operating in this manner, the steel embossing rolls tend to wear down due to uneven and excessive nip pressures which result from the necessity of bringing the plies into contact with each other. This problem is substantially mitigated by the use of a rubber/steel nip as shown in the abovesaid Donnelly patent, but this can give rise to adhesive strikethrough due to the pressures between the two solid surfaces.
Therefore there is a need for a method of making one-sided nested towels and the like in which embossing roll wear and adhesive strikethrough are minimized.